2005 Articles

The Famine of 1932-33 in the Discussion of Russian-Ukrainian Relations

Sysyn, Frank E.

The commemoration in 2003 of the seventieth anniversary of the Great Ukrainian Famine has brought the tragedy to the forefront of Ukrainian domestic and foreign affairs. Despite the opposition of the Communists and the indifference of much of the former Soviet nomenklatura, the parliament passed a resolution recognizing the famine as genocide and placing blame on the Soviet authorities. The Ukrainian government had initiated an action in the United Nations to recognize the genocidal nature of the famine. Here, however, the Russian delegation seems to have opposed the Ukrainian initiative behind the scenes. Calls from civic organizations, such as Ukraine's Memorial, that Moscow issue an acknowledgment and an apology have met with dismissal and even derision by the Russian ambassador to Ukraine, Viktor Chernomyrdin, and by Vladimir Putin. As in so many questions of Ukrainian-Russian relations, dialogue has not even begun.